Sewing machine



March 23, 1937. w MaCBRIDE 2,074,849

I I SEWING MACHINE Filed June 20, 1955 5 sheets sheet 1 R l INVENTOR.

6 .4 FEED M40 52/05 Y ATTORNEYS Mach 23, 1937.

A. W. M BRlDE SEWING MACHINE 5 sheets-sheet 2 Filed June 20, 1935 [[HHHIIIIIIHl HIIIIIIIF'I IF'HIHIIIIIIHIIHIHIHI BY j ATTORNEY/S March A. W. M BRIDE 2,074,849

I SEWING MACHINE Filed June 20, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 F1 INVENTOR.

A 4 FEED M46 Bewa- BY ATTORNEYS March 23, 1937. w, MacBRlDE 2,074,849

SEWINGMACHINE Filed June 2o,' 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. HIM-2E0 W/Ver 5e):

March 23,1937. V A WMMQRIDE. 2,074,849

. SEWING MACHINE Filed June 20, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 4 INVENTOR.

' #LFEED W/%cBe/0 BY 22 (Z x ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 23, 1937 H UNITED STAT PATENT SEWING. MACHINE Ali i'edi MaoBride; Roselle Park, J., assignon to: Pollack. 8r. Company, Inc York,

. Y.,. a. corporation. of New York.

Application June 20;. 1935. Serial No. 27,530

22 Claims (01. LEVE -E58 This invention relates to improvements in surface in. the iahric.,. such as one of the elastic sewing machines. and has particular reference to strands across which. a, stitch is about to be the needle bar assembly therefor. formed. and. is. provided so that the needle, in-

In the. manufacture of various. garments, such stead. of moving, straight.- downward and thus as corsets, girdles and the like, where an elastic cutting the strand with whichit contacts; will be material is. employed in. the making thereof, it deflected by said. strand and thus caused to pass has been customary to. join, by stitching; the through the. fabric between the strand and the meeting edgesof. adjacent sections of the garment next one adjacent thereto. and to reenf'orce. joint by a strip centered The. inventive. idea involved is capable of relO over said edges and also sewed to the fabric ceivingavariety of mechanical expressions, some 10. along the edges of. the strip. The material used" of which for purposesoli illustration are shown in for such. garments made elastic by the inciuthe accompanying, drawings; wherein: sion therein of'rubber strands arranged in closely Figure 1. is. a fragmentary front elevation, spaced parallel relatiom. Due to the fabrication partly in section, ota. sewingmachine illustrating l5 of the material in this manner; the attachment one. formof. the present invention applied thereto;

of the above mentioned. strip by the lines of Figure 2 is a fragmentary end elevation of the: stitching along the edgest'hereof results very fremachine. quently in the severing of one or" more of the Figure 3 is. an. enlarged fragmentary vertical elastic strands by the needle or needles of the section through a portion of. the needle bar asmachine on which the fabric-isbeing sewed. The sembly embodying the elements of: the present 20 strands, thus cut, contract and the loose ends: invention. pull away fromthe strip when the fabric of the Figure. 4. is a. view similar to Figure 3 but taken garment is" stretched; as when being worn, with at. right angles. thereto. the result that said strands will form small un-- Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the even places in the surface of the fabric and the needle. carriers forming a. part of the present 25 broken ends of the strands will very often project: invention. through said surface. Such defectshave been Figure 6" is. a. fragmentary plan view of the the source of great loss of labor and expense to throat plate of. the sewing machine.

the manufacturers to whom the defective: gar- Figure 7 is. a-view similar to Figure 1 illustratments are returned for replacement. ing a needle bar assembly embodying another 30 It is proposed, bythe presentl invention, to: form of the invention. overcome the above defect by producing a gar- Figure 8' is. an and. elevation ofthe construction ment in which the stitching which secures. the shown. in Figure '7. strips over the meeting edges. of two sections of, Figure 9 is an, enlarged fragmentary elevation the fabric, is supplemented by rows of machineof a type of needle point which maybe employed 35 made stitches extending; along. and contiguous to: in connection with the machine. the edges.- of said strip, with each stitch of said; Figure. I0 is an enlarged side elevation of the rows passing through: the; fabric between adiasewing hook, and needle. guard of the machine, cent elastic strands thereof without penetrating showing the position of said parts: relative. to the the latter. In this. manner the strands will not needles at the end of the down stroke of the 40 become" severed and. said rows; of stitches will. latten. constitute a binding for, said strands adjacent Figure I1 is an edge elevation of the bobbin said strip which willpreyent them from contract-- case and hook and needle guard assembly with ing or pulling: away from. the strip should they the latter parts in the same position as Figure 10.

be cut by the stitches which secure the strip: to Figure I2 is a fragmentary View" similar to 45 the fabric. a Figure 11,, but with the hook and needle guard To the: end that such binding. and non-severadvanced in. their rotative' movement and the anceof the strands. may be: accomplished. aneegib of the hook engaging. the loop" of one of the tile: bar assembly isprovided for a. sewing machine needle threads.

in which: the. needle or needles carriedv by said Figure 13 is a topplan view of the hook and 50 assembly may have a swinging or oscillating needle guard. in the position of Figure 10;

movement in a direction coincident with that of Figure 14 is. a. view similar to Figure 13' with the feeding movement of the fabric through the the hook and needle guard. in an advanced posimaohine. Such movement of the needle is occation fromthat shown. in the latter figure.

sionedby contact. of the same with. a deflecting Figure 15' an elevation of the bobbin case and hook assembly viewed in the opposite direction from Figure 10.

Figure 16 is a fragmentary plan view of a piece of elastic fabric forming a part of a garment, an edge of the fabric being shown with a double row of stitches such as are made by the present machine in order to bind the elastic strands embodied within the fabric.-

Figure 17 is a similar viewshowing a single row of stitches.

Figure 18 is a plan View of a portion of a garment in which two pieces of the elastic fabric have their meeting edges secured together and reenforced by a strip, with rows of stitches extending along and adjacent the edges of said strip so as to bind the elastic strands adjacent said strip.

Figure 19 is an enlarged diagrammatic view of the point of a needle showing its position relative to the fabric as said point is about to penetrate between the elastic strands of said fabric.

Figure 20 is a View similar to Figure 19, the dotted-line position of the needle showing its extremity as a point where, upon further downward movement of the needle, it would penetrate one of the elastic strands, and the fullline position of the needle showing the same at the point where it willswing from said dottedline position after the needle point has engaged a deflecting surface such as is presented by one of the elastic strands of the fabric.

The invention is illustrated in its adaptation to a Singer sewing machine of the double-needle type in which the needle bar is oscillated laterally relative to the direction of feed of the work to form rows of zigzag lock stitches, but it will be understood that the invention may be employed on a single-needle machine of the same type or applied to other sewing machines of known manufacture, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

In the portion of the machine illustrated, which is sufiicient for an understanding of the present invention, l5 indicates an arm of the machine and associated withsaid arm is the needle bar assembly which, in the form of the invention shown in Figures 1 and 2, is of the usual type including the needle bar'frame l6 having its upper end pivoted, at IT, to the upper portion of the arm IE to permit the frame to oscillate laterally when making a zigzag stitch. This oscillating movement of the arm is accomplished by the pitman I8 which is connected to the lower end of the frame l6 so as to actuate the latter within the limits of the length of the slot H! in said frame. Mounted in the frame l6 for vertical reciprocation is the'needle bar 20 which is driven from the arm shaft 2| through the pitman 22 joined at one end to the needle bar through the medium of the flexible connection 23, the latter permitting of the oscillating movement of the needle frame and bar. Below'the base plate 24 of the machine there is mounted the hook and needle guard drive, generally indicated by the numeral 25, and within which fits the bobbin and its case 26. Also disposed beneath said plate 24 is the operating means generally indicated at 2'! for the feed dog 28 which is actuated in the customary manner to advance a piece of work as it is being stitched in the machine beneath the stitching needles 29. The threads for these needles are led to the usual tension mechanism 30 mounted upon the arm l5 and are connected to the take-up lever 3| pivoted on said arm. 'The construction thus farbriefiy ill-Him... t

described, with the exception of certain details regarding the hook and needle guard, is of the well known type embodied in a Singer sewing machine employed in making zigzag stitches.

In accordance with the present invention it is proposed that the needle or needles of the inachine shall be controlled in such manner that during the downward stroke of the needle bar said needle or needles will have limited but free swinging movements back and forth in the direction of the feed of the work being stitched so that if and when a needle contacts a deflecting surface, such as an elastic strand, as it begins to penetrate the piece of work, said needle will be swung in said direction by contact with said strand and be thus caused to pass the latter without cutting through or penetrating the same. In the type of machine herein illustrated this swing ing movement of the needles, Which is very slight, takes place during the stroke of the needles, and while the needle bar frame is being moved laterally under the influence of the pitman 18. In order to produce the swinging movement of the needles back and forth in the direction of the feed of the work when said needles come in contact with an elastic strand in the fabric, there is provided in the embodiment of the Figures 1 and 2, a special mounting for said needles illustrated in detail in Figures 3 to 5. This mounting or needle holder comprises a supporting member adapted to be attached to the lower end of the needle bar 20 and consisting of a stem 32 insertable into said needle bar and removably secured therein by a set screw 33. The lower extremity of the stem 32 terminates in an enlarged head 34 which acts as a support for the two complemental sections 35 of the needle holder. These sections 35, to which the needles 29 are secured in the usual manner, are suspended from the head 34 for independent swinging movements relative to each other by means of set screws 36 the intermediate portions 3'! of which form bearings for the sections while the inner screw-threaded portions 38 are threaded into the head 34 from opposite sides thereof. Thus the set screws 36 form pivotal mountings for the sections 35 the axes of which extend transversely to the line of feed of the work being stitched. As viewed in Figure 4, each section 35 is provided with a substantially U- shaped recess 39 for receiving the head 34, and carries the opposed set screws ii) the inner ends of which project into the recess 33 for contact with the head 34 in order to limit the free swinging movement of the section 35 and consequently the needle carried by said section. By mounting the two sections 35 for independent movement relative to each other, it will be apparent that when a machine with two needles is being employed, should one of the needles contact a deflecting surface when penetrating a fabric and the other needle should be in a position to pass between two deflecting surfaces, the first needle will be permitted to swing in order to avoid penetrating said surface without affecting the direction of movement of the second needle. When the needles 29 are threaded and the machine is operating, the tension on the threads, occasioned by the take-up lever 3|, is such that said needles will be pulled forward slightly under normal operating conditions so that they will be pitched a slight angle to the vertical. This is best illustrated in Figures 4, l9 and 20 of the drawings, and in' Figure 4 one of the needle-carrying oleirients is shown as rocked about its pivot until a screw member has engaged the head 34 to limit the forward movement of theneedle point. By reference to Figure 19 the needle 29 is shown in its forwardly inclined position and about to penetrate the fabric 4| containing the spaced elastic strands 42 and in this instance the needle point is striking the fabric between two of said strands. Under such a condition, there will be no deflection of the needle andit will pass between said strands when forming the stitch. In Figure 20 the needle is shown in dotted lines as about to penetrate the fabric just above one of the strands 42. With the needle inclined forwardly in this dotted-line position, which is substantially the position of the needle in Figure 19,

the contact of the needle point with the curved surface of the fabric, or that of the strand, will cause the needle to swing in the direction of travel of the fabric until the needle assumes the full-line position whereupon it will penetrate the fabric between adjacent strands 42 and thus avoid cutting through the latter. To further aid this action of the needle, or needles, and insure the penetration of the fabric between the elastic strands, the throat plate43 has its opening 44, above which the pressure foot 46 of the machine is disposed, provided therein with a pair of spaced supporting fingers 45 which project from one edge of the opening so as to support the fabric being stitched and thereby prevent its sagging into the opening which might otherwise result when the needles strike the fabric. The sup- 1 porting fingers 45 are so arranged that the needles of the machine will always pass between the same and either longitudinal edge of the opening 44 depending upon the position to which said needles have been oscillated by the pitman l'8.

In the embodiment of Figures 7 and 8, the swinging movement of the needles in the direction of feed of the fabric is accomplished by dividing the needle bar frame into upper and lower sections 46 and 41 the former o-fwhich is pivoted to the arm l5 of the machine, as at 48, in the same manner as shown in Figure 1 so that said frame and its needle bar will be allowed to oscillate laterally in response to the pitman l8. The two sections 46 and 41 are pivotally connected together at 49 so that the pivotal movement between the sections will be about an axis which extendstransverse to the pivot 48 and thus allows the suspended lower section 41 of the frame and the needle bar carried thereby to swing in a direction coincident with the line of stitching being formed. In order that the needle bar 59 will be reciprocated vertically, the flexible con nection 23 is, in the present instance, provided with spaced flanges 51 forming a guide groove therebetween for receiving a portion of the frame 41. With this arrangement, as the needle bar is reciprocated, it will at the same time be guided by the frame 41. The lower end of the needle bar is, in the present embodiment, provided with the usual needle-attaching means 52, in-

stead of the needle holding elements of Figures 3 and 4. In the present embodiment the swinging movement which will accomplish the deflection of the needles, which now move in unison as distinguished from the independent movement of the first embodiment described, takes place about the pivot 49 and consequently the entire lower section of the needle frame, together with the needle bar, swings when the needles of the machine are deflected by contact with one'of the elastic strands of the fabric. In order to provide for the swinging movement of the lower section of the frame the guiding pin 53 which extends through the slot IS in the lower extremity of the needle frame, is provided thereon with nuts 54 disposed on opposite sides of the needle frame, and spaced a greater distance apart than the thickness of the frame, the excess of said distance defining the amount of the swinging movement which the section 4'! has about its pivot. 4.9.

In Figure 9 there is illustrated a type of needle which maybe employed with the present invention and is designed to assist in accomplishing theswinging movement of the needle when it contacts with a deflecting .surface such as one of the elastic strands of the fabric. For this purpose, the point of the needle has one of its edges tapered only slightly as indicated at 55 while the taper of the opposed edge is increased as indicated at 56. With this unbalanced point, should it strike a strand 42 at the center of the top surface thereof, the differently tapered edges of the needle will cause the same to have a greater tendency to swing away from the strand and thus further insure the passage of the needle between two adjacent strands.

Reference is now made to Figures 10 to 15 inclusive, illustrating details of the hook and needle guard assembly which is, in the main, of a well 7 known construction usually employed on sewing machines of the type herein described, but which embodies certain changes to adapt the same to the new feature of the machine involving the swinging movements of the needle, or needles,

in the direction of feed of the work, which movements are also longitudinal of the axis of rotation of said assembly.

It is understood that in the operation of the ordinary sewing machine in which the needle has only a vertical reciprocation or an additional oscillation transverse to the direction of feed of the work, as in the zigzag stitch machine illustrated herein, the hook and guard assembly revolves' in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 10

and its rotation is so timed with the movement of the needle, or needles, that the latter will be positioned in the guide channel 51, formed by the inclined wall of the hook 58 and the needle guard 59 inadvance of the hook gib 60 as viewed in Figures 10, 11 and 13. Then, upon further rotation of the assembly and during the up-stroke of the needle, the hook gib 60 passes through the needle thread loop 6| as shown in Figure 12 with the result that the bobbin thread is drawn through said loop to form the stitch in the customary manner. During this operation, it is essential that the needle, or needles, be accurately positioned relative to the hook gib so that the latter will properly engage and pass through the thread loop or loops. This action is effected by the formation of the guide channel 51.

The proper positioning of the needle, or needles, is alsoinvolved in the instant machine, and, due to the forward and backwardswinging movements of said needle, or needles, in the direction of the line of stitches being formed, said positioning presents further problems necessitating certain alterations in the construction of the hook and needle guard assembly. Thus, by reference to Figure 11, it will be apparent that should a needle be deflected to the lefthand dotted line position in said figure, as it passes through the fabric being stitched during its downward movement, the point of the needle would be likely to strike the outer circumference of the hook 58 instead of passing alongside of the inclined wall thereof preparatory to entering the guide channel 51, thus breaking the needle. To avoid this contingency, the wall 58 of the case is reduced or cut away to form a recess, as indicated at 62, at a point substantially diametric to the hook gib 60 and where the needle begins to pass below the circumference of said hook during its downward stroke. With said wall 58 thus reduced, should a needle have been swung to the left, as viewed in Figure 11, it will enter the recess 62 and thereafter be guided into the restricted end of the channel by engagement with the wall 58 so that the needle will be in the vertical position of Figure 12 when the hook gib comes into action. On the other hand, should the needle have been swung to the right hand dotted line position of Figure ll, as it passed downward through the fabric, it would come in contact with the inner surface of the needle guard 59 as the needle enters the guide channel 51, and would be guided thereby to its vertical position, a slightly raised portion 63 (Figure 12) on the inner surface of the guard insuring the accurate location of the needle relative to the-hook gib 60. After the hook gib has performed its operation, the needle continues its upward movement from the position of Figure 12 to complete the stitch. When the needle has cleared the fabric during said upward movement, the tension of the thread will swing the needle forwardly, as previously mentioned in the description, preparatory to the next stitching operation.

It is sometimes necessary, during the operation of the machine, to stop the same and manually reverse the direction of the drive, and consequently of the hook assembly. This causes the needle, or needles, to again be lowered toward the hook which will then assume the position of Figure 14 as the needle approaches the same. Bearing in mind that the needle is now in a forwardly inclined position by reason of the thread tension, it is obvious that the needle point may strike against the outer edge of the needle guard 59 if provision is not made to guide the needle away from said edge. This is accomplished by forming a curvature in said guard, as indicated at 64,

so that as the needle moves downwardly it will clear said edge and be engaged by the inner inclined surface 65 of said curvature and be thus guided back into its vertical position in which it remains until again raised under normal operating conditions.

In Figure 16 there is illustrated a pieceof elastic fabric which may be used in making a garment such as a corset and along one edge of the fabric there are showntwo adjacent rows of stitches 66 which may be formed by the needles of the machine described herein. In Figure 17, there is shown only a single row of stitches 61 in the fabric 4! which would be made by the use of a single-needle machine. In both instances the stitches are illustrative of a type of binding for the elastic strands which could be applied adjacent the edges of the fabric so as to hold the strands against displacement in the fabric when the latter is stretched. It will be noted that the stitches are of the zigzag type, but unlike the regular stitch produced on the ordinary machine, they assume an irregular formation. That is to say, some of the stitches, as indicated at 68, extend on the same side of a strand 42 as that on which the end of a previously formed stitch was terminated. This irregularity is caused by contact of the needle forming such a stitch 68 with one of the strands 42 and the consequent swinging of the needle about its pivot 36 (Figure 3) or the pivot 49 (Figure 7), which swinging movement permits the needle to penetrate the fabric between adjacent strands, rather than cutting through one of the latter.

In Figure 18, there is shown a method of joining together the meeting edges of two sections of elastic fabric and binding the rubber strands thereof. The practice usually followed is to secure said meeting edges together by a line of stitching 69 and to then cover this joint with a strip 16 which is secured to the fabric by the stitching H extending along the edges of said strip. This latter stitching has been the source of the difiiculty hereinbefore mentioned since these stitches are the ones which very often cut through the rubber strands of the fabric. In so doing, the strands so out are loosened and after a little stretching of the garment the cut ends slip in the fabric and very often project through the surface thereof to form irregularities in said surface which result in the garment being returned to the manufacturer as defective. This objectionable feature is overcome by running single or double rows of the stitches 66 along the edges of the strip and adjacent thereto. These stitches 66 will act as a binder for the strands 42 and particularly for any of such strands which may have been severed by the stitching 'H, so that when the garment is stretched the severed ends of the strands will be securely held by the stitches 66 and be thus prevented from slipping in the garment and forming irregularities in the surface thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sewing machine, a needle bar, a needle carried thereby, and a mounting for one of said elements by means of which said needle is free to be deflected, by contact with an obstruction in a piece of work, in directions coincident with the line of feed of the work being stitched by said needle and independent of the movement of said work.

2. In a sewing machine, a needle bar, a needle carried thereby, and means to suspend one of said elements for free swinging movement back or forth without retardation substantially in the line of stitches being formed in a piece of work, said movements occurring during contact of said needle with a yieldable deflecting surface in said piece of work.

3. In a sewing machine, a. needle bar, a pair of needles, and means connecting said needles to said bar for independent swinging movement relative thereto in a direction longitudinal to the path of movement of a piece of work being stitched.

4. In a sewing machine, a needle bar, a pair of needles, and means connecting said needles to said bar for independent swinging movement rela tive to each other in the direction of the lines of stitches being formed in a piece of Work by said needles.

5. In a sewing machine, a needle bar, two needle holders, means to support each holder on said bar for swinging movement relative thereto about an axis extending transverse to the direction of feed of a piece of work being stitched and a needle secured to each holder for swinging movement therewith.

6. In a sewing machine, a needle bar, a needle holder assembly including a stem secured to said bar, two independently movable holder members I attached to said stem for pivotal movement relativethereto about axes? which extend transverse to the direction of feed of the work being stitched,

and a' needle-secured to: each: holder member.

7-. Ina sewingmachine, an arm, a needle bar frame pivotally connected to said arm, a needle bar tamed by-said frame, means to oscillate said frame and bar laterally to effect the formation of a zigzag stitch, a needle holder assembly on said 10 bar and including two independently movable holder members, a needle for each holder member, and a pivot for each holder member about which the latter and its needle are movable relative to the other holder member and needle in a plane transverse to that in which said frame and bar oscillate.

8. In a sewing machine, the combination with a needle having swinging movements to positions in the direction of the line of stitches being formed in a piece of work; of a rotary hook and needle guard assembly having a guide channel for said needle, and further having a hook gib to engage the loop of the needle thread, and means on said assembly for guiding said needle from any of said positions to another position in which said hook gib will pass through the thread loop formed by said needle.

9. In a sewing machine, the combination with a needle having swinging movements to positions in the direction of the line of stitches being formed in a piece of work; of a rotary hook and needle guard assembly having a guide channel for said needle, formed by a wall of said hook and said needle guard, and further having a hook gib to engage the loop of the needle thread, and the Wall of said hook being provided with a recess in advance of said channel as the assembly is rotated, said recess receiving the needle when it is in one of said positions and guiding the same 40 into said channel so that it will assume another position in which said hook gib will pass through the thread loop formed by said needle.

10. In a sewing machine, the combination with a needle having swinging movements to positions in the direction of the line of stitches being formed in a piece of Work; of a rotary hook and needle guard assembly having a guide channel for said needle, formed by a wall of said hook and said needle guard, and further having a hook gib to engage the loop of the needle thread, and said wall and needle guard each having a recess formed therein in advance of and behind said hook gib, respectively, as the assembly is rotated, said recesses receiving said needle when in said positions and during its downward stroke so as to avoid striking of the needle point against the outer edges of said hook or needle guard.

11. In a sewing machine, a needle, operating means therefor, means to move a piece of work relative to said needle, and means to support said needle so that it will move unhindered in either forward or reverse directions relative to the direction of feed of said piece of work being stitched and during the interval when said needle is in engagement with said piece.

12. In a sewing machine, a needle, mechanism to intermittently feed a piece of work relative to said needle, and a support for said needle enam bling the same to move in different directions substantially coincident with the line of said feed and during an interval when said work is not being advanced by said mechanism.

13. In a sewing machine, a needle, mechanism 75 to intermittently feed a piece of Work relative to n in) said. needle, and'meanstolsupportsaid needle for free swinging movements i'ni :opposite directions which are substantially. coincident with the line of stiches being formed in said work, said movementsbeing effected by contact of the needle with Ca; deflecting surfacein said work and during the .inon-feedingintervals of. saidv mechanism.

14. In a sewing machine, a needle, operating means therefor, means to move a piece of work relative to said needle and means to enable a free deflection of said needle without retardation in either one of two dilferent directions both of which are substantially coincident with the line of movement of said piece of Work being stitched, when said needle encounters a deflecting surface in said work.

15. In a sewing machine, a needle, operating means therefor, means to move a piece of work relative to said needle, and a support from which said needle has variable unopposed movements" substantially along the line of feed of said piece of work being stitched, the variations in said movements depending upon the position of the needle relative to a deflecting surface in said Work as the needle enters the latter.

16. In a sewing machine, two needles, and means to support said needles during stitching operations for independent relative movements in a direction substantially coincident with that of the movement of a piece of work being stitched by said needles.

17. In a sewing machine, two needles, and means to support said needles for movements relative to each other in a direction substantially coincident with that of the movement of a piece of Work being stitched and independent of the latter movement.

18. In a sewing machine, a hook and needle guard assembly having a hook gib to engage the loop of the needle thread, said assembly further having means thereon for guiding said needle from a deflected position it may assume on its down stroke to another position in which said hook gib will pass through the thread loop formed by said needle.

19. In a sewing machine, a hook and needle guard assembly having a guide channel for the needle of the machine, and further having a hook gib to engage the loop of the needle thread, and the wall of said hook being provided with a recess in advance of said channel adapted to receive the needle, when the latter is deflected from its normal position during the down stroke thereof, and guide the same into said channel so that it will be in the position in which said hook gib will pass through the thread loop formed by the needle.

20. In a sewing machine, a hook and needle guard assembly having a guide channel for the needle of the machine, and further having a hook gib to engage the loop of the needle thread, and the wall of said hook and needle guard each having a recess formed therein in advance of and behind said hook gib, respectively, all of said recesses being capable of receiving the needle, when the latter is deflected from its normal position during the down stroke thereof, so as to avoid striking of the needle point against the outer edges of said hook or needle guard.

21. In a sewing machine, a needle, means to intermittently feed a piece of work relative to said needle, and a support for said needle permitting unhindered movements thereof within determined limits in either one of two directions durneedle enabling the same, while engaged with a piece of work, to have unhindered movements in different directions substantially coincident with the line of movement of said piece of work being stitched and independently of such movement.

ALFRED W. MACBRIDE. 

